During their recent show in Phoenix, Halsey encouraged fans to take a stance on reproductive rights, delivering a powerful speech about the need to be active during political turmoil.
In early May, leaked documents showed that the US Supreme Court voted privately to overturn Roe v. Wade, a 1973 case that made abortion legal on a federal level. That decision was officially ruled into place on Friday (June 24), meaning US states will be able to set their own laws regarding the legality of abortions.
As Politico reports, 23 states are expected to make abortion illegal – at the time of writing, five already have, and a further eight are in the process of finalising anti-abortion laws.
“This has been happening for a very long fucking time,” Halsey said to approximately 20,000 concertgoers at the Ak-Chin Pavilion in Phoenix (where they performed yesterday, June 26). “I know that we want to sit at home and we want to wait for some revolutionary to come along, to make a difference, but no one is fucking coming.
“Nobody is fucking coming. It is up to every single one of you, myself, every single person in this building to do our fucking part to protect bodily autonomy and bodily integrity. To protect medical privacy.”
Receiving an outpouring of cheers from their crowd, Halsey continued with a chant, yelling “my body” and spurring the audience to respond with “my choice”.
Watch footage from the speech below:
— kihyunoi (@sofia_vids) June 25, 2022
Prior to the show, Halsey took to social media to share their take on the overturning of Roe v Wade. “I’m running out of ways to word and frame the severity of the impact that fundamentalism has on our country,” they said, noting that they “need a little bit of time to speak to some people with more authority and experience than me and gather my thoughts”.
“I don’t want to just contribute to antagonistic noise,” they continued. “I’m just defeated at the moment.”
I know some of you look to my page for information or guidance but I need a little bit of time to speak to some people with more authority and experience than me and gather my thoughts. I don’t want to just contribute to antagonistic noise. I’m just defeated at the moment.
— h (@halsey) June 24, 2022
Halsey has long been vocal in their advocacy for reproductive rights. They’ve spoken candidly about their own challenges with reproductive healthcare, and addressed Roe v Wade several times before. During the first show of their current ‘Love And Power’ tour, for example, they screened a video sharing facts about the importance of safe access to abortions.
At last night’s Phoenix show, they screened a similar video while performing ‘Nightmare’. They also presented a slideshow that read, in part: “This catastrophic attack on bodily autonomy will only encourage more dangerous legislation, impacting vulnerable communities the most. Don’t wait for revolutionaries to change the world. Be the revolutionaries. No one is coming to do the work for us. The work is ours and we have to do it now.”
See footage and photos of those below:
Halsey during nightmare tonight highlighting abortion rights. It is so fucking important for artists not to stay silent. I was legit in tears @halsey #loveandpowertour pic.twitter.com/bwxpzJyQqv
— nikkisha (@niiikkiiiii_) June 25, 2022
When the aforementioned Supreme Court documents leaked in May, Halsey was among more than 150 artists to sign a petition against the proposed (and now official) ruling. “The overturning of Roe v Wade will mark a catastrophic shift in our fundamental rights to bodily autonomy and reproductive health care,” they wrote at the time. “We are constituents and we have the right and responsibility to fight this.”
Over the past few days, hundreds of artists have spoken out against the official overturning of Roe v. Wade. Many did so during their sets at Glastonbury 2022, including IDLES, Billie Eilish, Lorde, Olivia Rodrigo, Jarvis Cocker, Phoebe Bridgers and Kendrick Lamar.
Meanwhile, Lizzo has partnered with Live Nation – who are presenting her upcoming ‘Special’ tour – to donate $1million (£815,000) in funds to organisations offering safe access to abortions. During the London stop on the Hella Mega Tour, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told the crowd he was “renouncing” his US citizenship over the ruling.
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